The world of the Internet has brought about stories of love, romance, and deception. While we often read of people duped into believing their love partner is Prince Charming or Cinderella, at no time can people remember a story more bizarre than that of Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and his imaginary girlfriend. Today, Jan. 25, 2013, after an exclusive interview with Katie Couric -- which the Huffington Post said drew “Big Ratings” -- he became somewhat of a sympathetic character. It seems that Te’o was victimized into believing he was involved with a woman whose face was that of Diane O’Meara, who was called Lennay Kekua, and who would eventually succumb to leukemia. O’Meara appeared on the Today show to disavow knowledge of the hoax. As the story unraveled, it became clear, Te’o had been “catfished."
Catfish according to Boston.com
“Catfish” is only the latest in a long line of shorthand terms, often derived from literary or cinematic allusions, to designate the deceptive psychological games that people play. Such shorthand can take a whole complex pattern of behavior.”Catfish: How Manti Te'o's imaginary romance got its name.”
The life and death of a love lie
It seems that just when Manti Te'o's grandmother died, so, too did his imaginary girlfriend. Sympathy poured in for the football star, which turned to anger when it was deemed to be a hoax. And now that the truth is surfacing, Te’o indeed appears to be the victim of a very complicated love lie with a woman with him he spoke for hours, but whom he apparently never really dated.
Regarding Couric's interview
The interview was Te'o's first on-camera appearance since he and Notre Dame officials confirmed that the football star's supposed deceased girlfriend was an elaborate alleged Internet hoax. Te'o had previously submitted to an off-camera interview with ESPN. In the Katie interview, Couric asked Te'o why he continued to hide the truth after he found out that "Lennay Kekua" -- who supposedly died of leukemia last September, in the same week as his grandmother -- did not exist. He said he was "scared." Hollywood Reporter wrote
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